Sacred Ash
by Double-Gemini
Summary: A preview (of sorts) of an upcoming fanfic I'm planning called "Battle Song" look inside for more details.


A prologue to a fanfic I might write based around the idea of "What if Ash was mute?" with the goal of explaining a few of the anime's weird peculiarities such as what happened to Ash's father? Why Professor Oak cares so much about Ash and why is Gary such a rude prick when it obvious that he used to be friends with Ash? It will mostly follow the anime but with a few of my own original interpretation of the relationship between the characters and a whole new battle system for Ash.

This prologue is to hopefully explain why exactly Ash is the "chosen" one and why all of the legendaries seem to be heavily interested in Ash.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!**

* * *

It had been a thousand years since Sir Aaron died. The man had first caught Ho-Oh's eye when he had used his aura to restore life to a trampled flower. The man had been but a few years old at the time; barely out of his infancy even by their human standards, and he had wielded his aura as naturally as any Pokémon around him. It was rare to find humans who knew how to manipulate their "aura" as they called it, and to do it so naturally at such a young age. Even back then Ho-Oh knew the boy was special and made sure to keep an eye on the child.

Ho-Oh almost regretted doing so. The young boy's life was filled with strife as he was both hailed and shunned because of his ability to manipulate aura. He had put himself though such dangerous training in order to gain complete control over his aura, and sometime over his journey he had gain a student and companion in a Lucario, that Ho-Oh felt that the peaceful kingdom Aaron chose as his home was more than well deserved for the weary traveler.

However, this new found peace did not last long and war broke out between two neighboring kingdoms. Ho-Oh had watched as Aaron had then sacrificed himself to save everyone including the Mew that Aaron himself had only ever met once or twice. It was then, as Aaron's flame began to flicker out of existence that Ho-Oh decided to show itself to the dying hero.

Aaron, whose soul had already departed from his physical body, hadn't looked surprised; as if he had always known that Ho-Oh had been watching, and greeted Ho-Oh warmly with a tired smile. Ho-Oh had then offered the young hero the only gift it could give him now. Aaron, who had always been much smarter than the rest of his race, had agreed without pause and Ho-Oh watched solemnly as the flame of Aaron's soul burned itself into ash. However things didn't end there, using its' power Ho-Oh gathered the ashes of Aaron's soul and formed it into one perfect golden feather that Ho-Oh stuck securely to its' wing.

From there is had been a sad, sad, journey. Each time Ho-Oh reincarnated Aaron's soul, Aaron's reincarnation always met with a tragic end. Each time his reincarnation chose to do the _right_ thing rather than value his (and on one occasion; her) life, and each time many lives were saved in exchange. Once, Ho-Oh had jokingly asked Aaron's soul if he was secretly enjoying all of these tragic lives but by this point in time Aaron's soul had been reincarnated so many times that it no longer resembled the man Aaron had been when he died and Ho-Oh was left without an answer.

It had been many years since Aaron had stopped talking to Ho-Oh, tired from his many reincarnations and many deaths. So it came as a surprise to Ho-Oh when Aaron suddenly decided to speak.

It was just a whisper; but for Ho-Oh who had grown used to listening to the whispers of the dead and even more used to the silence of the soul it carried on its' wing, that little whisper was as loud as a shout. A shout that told Ho-Oh to look down, and so Ho-Oh did and was surprised by what it found.

It was a forest, not an uncommon sight considering that Ho-Oh tried to stay away from any sign of human civilization ever since the burning of the Brass Tower. What had caught Aaron's attention though was the single human woman sitting in an empty field screaming loud enough that Ho-Oh could almost hear her despite how far down she was.

Curious about why the human women had caught Aaron's attention, Ho-Oh descended into the field and immediately began to realize that something had gone horribly wrong. The scent of blood was the first thing that Ho-Oh had noticed; it covered the ground and ran down the women's legs. In the women's arms was a bloody bundle that as Ho-Oh had gotten closer, Ho-Oh had realized was in fact a human baby _that had no flame within it_.

Suddenly Ho-Oh understood; this child was a still born and considering the urgency that Aaron's soul was pulsing, Ho-Oh knew what needed to be done. Ho-Oh tried its' very best to convey to the human women, who had fallen silent in shock when Ho-Oh descended, the it meant no harm to either her or her baby. Ho-Oh would never mention how awkward this whole situation was to it; after all it had been decades since Ho-Oh had interacted with a living human. However the women must have seen Ho-Oh sincerity, because after a moment of hesitation she held out her dead baby with such a desperate look in her eyes that Ho-Oh was startled by the intensity.

Making sure to be as non-threatening as possible; Ho-Oh plucked Aaron's soul and (in a move that Ho-Oh was disturbingly becoming far too used to) placed the feather upon the baby's head. Then, with a sudden irrational impulse, Ho-Oh gathered a bit of its' own flame and breathe new life into the cold form; sparking the dead ember inside the child into life and fully merging Aaron's soul to this new life. For a brief moment Ho-Oh panicked; by bringing the child back to life and then merging it with Aaron's soul, Ho-Oh hadn't simply reincarnated Aaron's soul but had created an entirely new life. Whatever this child may grow up to be, it wouldn't be the same as Aaron and all of his reincarnations, this child was its own being with a flame that burned brighter than even Aaron's did.

Then, suddenly, Ho-Oh just knew that everything was going to be ok. That this is what was meant to happen. The mother's tearful, joy filled cry only cemented the feeling within Ho-Oh. With one last look at the tiny child who bore Aaron's soul and its own flame, Ho-Oh spread its wings and took to the skies. Perhaps this time Aaron's soul will find the peace it deserves.

* * *

Meanwhile Delia was sobbing with joy. It had only been just moments ago when Delia had fallen into such despair that she didn't know if she would ever recover from it. In her arms was her baby boy, _alive and well_, and Delia couldn't even begin to describe the joy that was consuming her.

She had known it was foolish of her to wander into the forest while she was so heavily pregnant, but she had reasoned with herself that she was only going to gather a few herbs at the edge of the forest and give herself some breathing room from her over protective husband who hadn't once left her alone since she announced that she was pregnant. She had convinced herself that it would be perfectly safe considering just how close to town she would be.

She hadn't considered on encountering a full flock of Spearow and Fearow while she was gathering herbs, neither did she expect the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto to come to her defense; and while not a single attack actually hit her, the shock and stress of the sudden battle had forced her into an early labor.

Once Delia had felt the first contractions hit, she had tried her very best to escape back into town but she didn't make it very far. Delia guess that she had barely made it even two clearing away before the pain forced her to her knees and Delia just knew that she wasn't going to make it any farther. So instead she had tried her very best to deliver her child by herself and hope that somebody somewhere could hear her screams.

Unfortunately Delia was a first time mother, and she had no idea how to deliver a baby, but even she knew that the horrible silence besides her own screams of pain was wrong. She was even more sure when she picked up her baby and saw no signs of life within the child. She had screamed then; pouring out all the fear and sorrow she was feeling while her mind went blank from the shock.

It was then that the Pokémon had appeared before her in all its golden glory. She had never seen such a Pokémon before, but it did spark a sense of familiarity with her, as if she had seen it once while researching with Professor Oak. The Pokémon had looked at her with such a sincere look that Delia felt like she could trust it. It was then that Delia realized that the mysterious Pokémon was staring at her child, and Delia hesitantly raised her child to it hoping that maybe this Pokémon could do something to help her child.

Then the strangest thing happened, the bird like Pokémon placed a feather on the child's head and then breathe a small flame into the child's body. Barely a second passed afterwards before Delia's child stirred and loudly began to cry. Delia was so happy and shocked that she didn't even notice when the Pokémon left; far to relieved that her baby was alive. It was only minutes later that the shock wore off and Delia realized that she needed to get herself and her baby to safety.

It was only when she began to stand up that Delia realized that her baby boy was covered in some sort of shimmering ash, which she deftly collected in a spare handkerchief, before coming to a sudden decision.

"Ash, your name will be Ash."

* * *

Well yeah, like I said: this is a preview to a fanfic I was thinking of writing. It may take me a while to actually post said fanfic because being a full time student and part time worker leaves me with little free time and I have another fanfic that I'm currently working on. When I do post the fanfic, it's going to be called "Battle Song" or something like that. So look forward to it. RAR


End file.
